


Shadow of the Mourning Ficlet Repository

by AnaliseGrey



Series: In the Shadow of the Mourning [2]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Eberron
Genre: Anger Management, Assault, Calinou, Cats, Corrine Featherlight, Difference in Life Expectancy between races, Distractable Bards, F/M, James and Raina, Justice, Killing in self-defense, Melons - Freeform, Multi, Pinea, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory, Revenge, Self-Defense, Shock
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-11-05 20:20:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17925674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaliseGrey/pseuds/AnaliseGrey
Summary: This is going to be where I stick a bunch of the ficlets I've written for my D&D character, Corrine Featherlight. I've already got her origin posted, but I have a bunch of smaller things and thought this might be a good place to put them. The campaign she's in is a slightly homebrew version of the Eberron game system using D&D 5e. I'll add tags as I add more things to this.The two characters you're likely to see are Corrine Featherlight, half-elf bard, and Calinou, goliath (fire giant background) blacksmith.Corrine is my creation. All other characters (NPCs) are creations ofHaletheWandereron tumblr, but also here under the same name.





	1. Always Angry

“Put. Me. DOWN.”

“No.”

Calinou’s voice is mild, but also carefully neutral, not belying any of the amusement he may or may not be feeling. In his arms Corrine is squirming, trying to get him to let go and drop her back to the ground instead of holding her up a few feet in the air as he walks, his arms wrapped firmly around hers, pinning them to her sides.

“ _ Cén fáth nach bhfuil an fuck? _ ”

It takes a force of will not to laugh; he knows it won’t help anything, but hearing her curse in Elvish always tickles him.

“You know I didn’t understand most of that, starling.” He’s still moving despite her wriggling, and has made it most of the way back to the house before she finally settles, though she’s still breathing hard and flushed. He waits until they’re inside and he’s got the door closed securely behind him before he sets her down, taking a step back, unsure what she’ll do now that he’s not holding her.

Once she’s loose she starts pacing, aggravated, eyes flashing.

“You should have let me handle it.”

“See, I’m going to have to disagree with you on that.”

“I  _ had  _ it, Cal, you didn’t have to interrupt.”

He goes to the fire and stokes it up from where he’d banked it earlier, adding more wood before he answers. “Again, I’m going to have to disagree with you, Rin. That man was almost as tall as I am and a mean drunk. He’d have flattened you.”

She bristles, glowering, and stands up to her full height, even though it only barely gets the top of her head to his sternum. 

“No, he  _ wouldn’t _ , Calinou. What, you think I can’t handle myself? Is  _ that  _ it?”

He rises and moves to stand in front of her, gently laying his hands on her shoulders and squeezing. He can feel how tightly she’s wound under his hands, almost vibrating with an energy he’s not used to seeing from her, and he wonders if she even realizes she’s doing it.

“I think you’re immensely capable of handling yourself, love. But I also think it would have been a foolhardy action to take if you didn’t have to. The town guard is there for a number of reasons, and one of them is to deal with people like him so the people I love, like you-” He leans down and kisses the top of her head. “- don’t get hurt unnecessarily. Alright?”

She scowls up at him another moment, and then her expression softens and she reaches out to pull him into a hug.

“I guess...when you put it that way-”

He squeezes her back and it’s quiet another moment before-

“I could have totally taken him.”

He smiles, indulgent, and squeezes her again. “Of course, starling.”

~~~

Calinou is glad to be home. It’s been a long day, but fulfilling. There’s a project he’s been working on that’s finally done, and now he can relax for a few days. It doesn’t hurt that he knows Corrine is coming back and due any time.

There’s the sound of the door opening, and he smiles, putting his book down as he calls out. “Hello, love.”

“Calinou.”

That is not the voice he expects.

He makes his way quickly to the entryway and finds Balen, gently coaxing Corrine in the door. Her hair is a mess, unlike the neat chignon she usually keeps it in while traveling, and he frowns at the visible scrape on her cheekbone, the bruises darkening at her jawline. She’s pale, looking sickly under the normally rich darker tone of her skin, and he realizes after a second that she’s holding an unsheathed dagger in one hand, gripping it so tightly that her knuckles have gone white.

“She won’t let go of it.”

He looks back up at Balen, and sees his own concern mirrored in the dwarf’s face.

“What happened?”

“I was at the edge of town picking mushrooms for the Ironheart, and I saw her coming up the road. Realized something was wrong and brought her here.”

“Thanks.” He’s talking to Balen, but his eyes haven’t left Corrine, and he doesn’t think she’s tracking well, her eyes staring off into the distance.

“I’m gonna head back to the Ironheart, but you need anything, you let me know. I’ll be by later with something to eat for you two.”

“Uh huh.”

Calinou’s already focused all his attention on Corrine, and barely hears it when the door closes behind Balen. Keeping an eye on the dagger in her hand, he tries getting her attention.

“Corrine, love, can you hear me?”

It’s slow, but her gaze shifts over to him, her eyes wide and face oddly blank. Just as slowly, she nods.

“Okay.” He reaches out and gently takes her arm, sliding his hand down until he reaches the dagger she’s holding. “Can I take this from you?”

Her hand twitches around the dagger before she nods, and even then he has to help her loosen her fingers. He tosses the dagger aside once it’s free, and takes her hands in his. “How about we go get you cleaned up.”

She nods again, and goes with him when he leads her to their room. She’s silent the whole time, and it only makes his concern grow. He gets her pack off her back, and pauses a moment, kicking himself for not thinking to ask sooner. “Are you hurt?”

She opens her mouth, and for a moment he thinks she’s going to respond, but then her mouth closes again, and she shakes her head. He talks to her as he’s helping her undress- about town gossip, about the project he just finished, what he plans to work on next; the whole time she’s quiet, and while the tension is leaving her body, it’s slow-going. He has a moment of panic when he gets her leathers off and finds a wash of red and the scent of iron, but when he lifts her underlayers to check, there’s a freshly-healed scar along her side. Once he has her down to her skin, he takes a cloth and some water from the nightstand and has her sit on the bed as he cleans the scrape on her face, and checks her over for anything other than the bruising on her chin. She has some marks on her arms that look like fingers, like someone had grabbed her, and he can feel his anger starting to rise, but he lets it pass through him and out, making damned sure not to let any of it show on his face. He helps her into one of his nightshirts, and if circumstances were different it would be funny how it reaches down to her shins. He gets her tucked into bed, adding a few extra blankets, and slides in next to her, pulling her close to his chest. 

Despite his size, he doesn’t often think of Corrine as small, but right now it’s hard not to think it. She’s curled up against his chest, shivering, but he doesn’t think it’s with cold. He wraps his arms around her and she burrows closer. They stay that way for a while, and he’s starting to think she’s fallen asleep when she finally speaks.

“I killed someone.”

Her voice is very quiet, but her words are clear. Well, he thinks, running a hand up and down her back, that will save him having to hunt the bastard down.

“Was it the person who hurt you?”

She nods against his chest. “I didn’t- I hadn’t-” She doesn’t often struggle for words, and he hugs her closer while she searches for them. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I was a half hour outside Two Rivers, and he came from the brush on the side of the road. I didn’t notice him at first, he was on me before I could pull my knife. I-” To his surprise she laughs, but it isn’t remotely happy. “I was mad, I was  _ so  _ mad. At him, but more at myself, that I hadn’t been paying enough attention, that he was able to sneak up on me. I tried to shove him off, to get away, but he was bigger than me, and with my pack I kept overbalancing like a fucking turtle.” He can hear the edge of the anger in her voice, and it’s not necessarily new. For almost as long as he’s known her, he’s been aware that she has a temper, though she usually has a pretty good grip on it.

“What happened, love?”

“I was so mad, and I- I don’t even know  _ what  _ I said, precisely, but, I could  _ feel  _ it, in the words, when I said them. I could feel the magic as it left my mouth, and I could see it when it hit him, Cal, I could fucking  _ see  _ it.” She hides her face against his chest for a minute and he just holds her, letting her shake.

“I left him by the side of the road and kept walking, I didn’t know what else to do. Balen found me as I got closer to Eastford, and I didn’t...I didn’t want to accidentally hurt him, too.”

“Oh, _joon-am_ , no, you wouldn’t have hurt him.” He reaches up and cups the side of her face, mindful of the bruises, and tilts her head up. “What you did, you did in self-defense. Not even considering the fact that he was attacking people on the road, he attacked a  _ bard  _ on the road. I’d say he just got his comeuppance directly, instead of having to wait for it to come around and find him. I’m just sorry it was you he found.” He kisses her forehead and pulls her close again. “Why don’t you rest. Balen said he’d back later with food. When he gets here, I’ll have him fetch some of the guard and go deal with it, okay?”

She nods, curling up against him, and he hears it when her breathing evens out and her body finally goes lax against his.


	2. Rage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrine's reaction to seeing what a necromancer has done to the remnants of the town of Eastford after the Mourning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Corrine by this point has some of her Blood Hunter levels.

Her blood is burning.

The feeling is so cold, at first it doesn’t even register properly as anger. The things they were doing, the things they’d  _ done-  _ to the people of Eastford, to the  _ children  _ of Eastford-

She burns brighter, fury roaring through her, and it’s difficult to tell if this is something she should be concerned about or a normal response to seeing children turned into vampires, babies turned into soulless zombies.

How can there be a normal response to something like that?

Her Mark is a searing flash on her shoulder, and she wonders if she’ll see smoke coming off it if she looks. It’s calling to her, goading her, telling her to find those responsible, to make them pay, stop them,  **_rend them apart._ **

And  _ gods  _ she wants to.

Liara fell, but rose again; as many times as it takes, however many pieces Corrine has to cut her into, she’ll make it happen. She’ll find justice, such as she can, for the people of Eastford.

She thinks again of how they’d been looking for the goliath, for  _ Calinou _ , and her rage is given voice, ripping out of her in a scream. Her throat is raw and when she looks down there are flecks of blood on her arms. 

It’s not enough.

_ Will it ever be enough? _

There’s the briefest flicker of worry that sounds like her mother, like Calinou, asking where it ends, where it stops.

She thinks of her father denying who he was, who hid himself and what he was trained for, what he was meant to be, and wonders if it would have made a difference.

She can’t stand by and do nothing. She  _ won’t _ .

She’ll find recompense for Oak Hill, for the people of Eastford.

Even if she has to take the payment in blood.

Maybe  _ especially  _ then.


	3. A Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrine's boyfriend James and girlfriend Raina challenge her to a pickup game in a bar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Corrine, Raina, and James are in a polycule with each other, and have been friends since childhood. While Raina and James tend to stay within the polycule, there's an understanding with Corrine that her part of the relationship is open as long as they communicate about it.   
> This takes place before Corrine meets Calinou.

“I’m telling you. Anyone.” Corrine waved her arm around, gesturing to the crowd in the Blue Tusk, Raina barely ducking in time to avoid getting smacked in the head. “There is no one in this place I couldn’t pick up if I had half a mind to it.”

Next to her, James snorted into his ale. “That’s awfully big talk there. How much have you had to drink? We haven’t been here that long-”

“Not that much and you know it.” Corrine gave his shoulder a playful shove, then leaned against it, smiling warmly between him and Raina. “I can’t help it if I’m confident. It’s my exuberance. My personal charm and charisma. I exude it, it’s a natural talent.”

“‘Personal charm and charisma’? And who told you that load of bullshit?”

Corrine’s smile went wicked as she leaned in toward Raina, her ears pricking up. “I believe that was you, dear, just the other evening when I had my face between your-”

“Them.”

“Hmm?” Corrine stopped to look over where James was pointing. She followed the line of sight to two figures at the bar, and it took her a second to realize it wasn’t a trick of the light that made them glow in the dim bar lighting. They were both subtly glowing, like a low-banked fire. One was slightly taller, with longer hair pulled half-way up, the rest flowing freely, while the shorter one had theirs pulled back into a loose braid which lay down the center of their back. The two of them were in an animated discussion, and Corrine’s eyes widened a little as she licked her lips.

“Huh.”

“Oh, well look at that, she can be silenced.” Raina darted a hand in front of Corrine and snatched her drink off the table, stealing a sip and looking smug.

Corrine watched the pair, coming quickly to a number of conclusions:

  1. They were fire genasi.
  2. They were twins.
  3. Her night was about to go either really well or really poorly.



“What do I get if I manage it?”

James smothered a disbelieving laugh in his mug while Raina just raised an elegant eyebrow at her. “If you manage it, and that’s a very generous _if_ , Corrine, then we’ll let you choose the next three date nights. No holds barred.”

Without looking away from the twins, she reached her hands to either side, one to each of her companions. “Deal. Deal?”

James and Raina each took a hand and shook. “Deal.”

Corrine stole her mug back from Raina to take the last dregs in a gulp, wiped her mouth on her wrist, and after a moment of thought got up, a smile and idea starting to form as she made her way towards the two seated figures.

As she got closer, the differences between the two genasi became more apparent. The taller one, the man, had darker-orange hair, his eyes glowing to match, while the woman glowed a hotter, lighter sunshine yellow. Gathering her courage, she approached, sent up a quick prayer to the patron god of stupid ideas, and put her plan into action.

As she got closer she pretended to trip, falling so that she barely caught herself, stopping with a hand on the shoulder of each of the twins. They both turned to look at her, brows raised in mirrored expressions of surprise, and Corrine flashed a smile.

“ _So_ sorry, my sincerest apologies. That bit of clumsiness was all me. Allow me to make it up to you and buy you a drink?”

The man’s eyes narrowed, suspicious, but the woman’s twinkled. “And which of us were you planning on buying that drink for?”

Corrine lets her smile brighten. “Oh, that was directed at both of you.” 

“I don’t think-”

“Oh lighten up, brother.” The woman held her hand out to Corrine. “I’m Ember, and this one with the rod up his ass is my brother, Onyx. You are?”

Corrine took her hand in a firm handshake, only barely stifling her surprise at the heat coming off the other woman’s hand. “Corrine. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She turned to look at the man over her shoulder. “And you as well. What are you two drinking?”

Twenty minutes and a round of drinks later had Corrine sitting between the two of them in a booth to the side of the bar; Ember a line of burning heat against Corrine’s side, and though Onyx was more cautious he was smiling now, fingertips hot against Corrine’s arm even through her shirt.

There was a brief lull in conversation, and Corrine sighed happily. “Now, I don’t want to make any presumptions, but I was curious if you two might be interested in some fun this evening?”

“And here I thought we were already having fun.” Onyx’s voice was a low rumble next to her, his words carrying the sound of popping sparks.

“I was thinking something a little more...hands-on.”

An arm slides around Corrine’s side, brand hot, and Ember rests the point of her chin on Corrine’s shoulder. “I don’t know,” her smile evident in her voice. “We might be too hot for you to handle.”

Corrine grins and turns her head, brushing her lips over Ember’s jaw. “That’s a risk I am prepared to take.”

Ember squeezes her and moves back to get out of the booth, offering her hand to help Corrine slide out, Onyx following behind.

As they head towards the stairs up to the twins’ room, Corrine catches the eyes of James and Raina who are still at the bar, and tosses them a wink.

~~~

The next morning saw a pleasantly rumpled Corrine sliding into a chair at the small table James and Raina were having breakfast at, stealing a slice of bacon from James’ plate before he could stop her.

“Hey!”

“So I was thinking,” Corrine licked bacon grease off her fingers as she finished chewing. “Maybe a nice gallery opening in Eastford, or a concert here in Kalazart for the first date night. Maybe James can cook something for the second-”

“Gods above, Corrine, I can’t  _ believe  _ you did that.”

Corrine grinned over at Raina, who was scowling back at her, though Corrine had known her long enough to know it wasn’t serious. “I _did_ try to warn you. ‘Anyone’ I said. I meant it.”

James peered at her over his cup of tea, looking like he wanted to ask something but didn’t quite dare.

“Yes, James?”

His cheeks tinged pink, but he still asked, “How was it?”

Corrine’s grin grew to shit-eating proportions, and there was a mutter of, ‘Corrine,  _ no _ -’ from Raina.

“Hot.”

James hid his face in his hands as Raina hissed at him. “ _ James _ . You know better than to set her up like that.”

Corrine laughed delightedly, slumping contentedly in her chair. She was in a new city, with two of her favorite people, after a very enticing evening. All in all, not a bad way to start their trip.


	4. You Get a Lifetime, Same as Anyone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _When she was young, her mother had sat her down to have a talk, her father conspicuously absent._
> 
> _“Those of us with Elvish blood must at some point come to terms with the fact that we will outlive a great many people.”_
> 
> Corrine's mother sits her down to talk about lifespans.

When she was young, her mother had sat her down to have a talk, her father conspicuously absent.

“Those of us with Elvish blood must at some point come to terms with the fact that we will outlive a great many people.” Elandre took a delicate sip of her tea before looking back at Corrine. “As you grow up, as you start to attach yourself, you will need to be conscious of that and decide how to handle it. You are and always have been free to love whomever you wish, darling, but you should do so with the understanding that their time here may not last as long as yours, possibly by decades. When your father started to pursue me, it was a consideration I had to think over carefully. I’m a full elf; I will outlive him by centuries. I had to decide whether the few short years I will have with him are worth all the years of missing him when he’s gone. I decided they’re worth it, that  _ he’s _ worth it.” Elandre put her cup down so she could take one of Corrine’s hands in hers. “That decision gave me you. I still consider saying yes to your father to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Corrine thought to James, to Raina, who she’d been getting quite close with. Nothing’s happened- yet- but she thought it could, given time; she still wasn’t sure yet which she’d choose. They’re both human, and the idea of losing either filled her with a vague sort of dread and an ache in her chest. She’d never really given thought to the fact that because of her blood, she’d outlive them both. The difference of race had never come up other than idle chat- Raina admiring the delicate points of Corrine’s ears, James grumbling about his inability to see as well in the dark as she can. Now the differences felt a little more stark, a little more harrowing.

“How did you know it was worth it,  _ máthair _ ? Won’t it be painful?”

Elandre smiled at Corrine, warm and tinged with not-quite-sadness. “I imagine it will, dear, but I choose to focus on enjoying every last minute I get with him. I will have time enough to mourn him when he’s gone; it would be a waste to do so now when I have him here with me.”

Their conversation changed course from there, to lighter things, but it stayed with Corrine. She tried not to think about it when she eventually connected with Raina and James; as they drew apart when Corrine started to travel, she thought maybe she was safe from that sort of hurt after all.

And then she met Calinou, and all bets were off.

She’d always wondered how her mother  _ knew _ ; how she'd known that the joy now would be worth the sorrow later. After meeting Calinou, she didn’t have to wonder. She didn’t really have a choice in the matter of whether or not she’d get attached, it just  _ happened _ . She never brought it up with him, never discussed it. Goliaths lived longer than humans, but not so long as half-elves; she’d always known that barring unforeseen circumstance, she was going to outlive him.

She just hadn’t thought it would happen quite so soon.

She thought about it occasionally in the months after the Mourning, taking in the hurt all around her as people started trying to put their lives back together. It was a folly most people fell into eventually, she knew; everyone always assumed they had more time.  She really ought to have known better, but then common sense was never really her strongest attribute.

Now he was gone; presumably so were Raina and James.

So too were what was likely a large number of those she’d spent time with on her travels. Every so often the enormity of it hits her, and she has to take a few minutes to breathe and recenter, Pin nudging her until she’d resettled. She was sure all three of them would want her to move on, to find happiness, but losing them all at once-

That was a lot.

Someday she might be able to put herself out there again, but she didn’t think it would be any time soon.The lack of their presence was palpable, and the world dimmer for it. 


	5. Mild Misadventure by Melon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No good deed...

“Sweety?”

Calinou glanced up from the potato he was slicing and turned his head in the direction of the door. “In the kitchen.”

He could hear Corrine moving through the the house, and it was still a small thrill to know she was here. She’d been on tour, and only gotten back a few days ago. She’d be leaving for Oak Hill in another day or two to visit her parents, but for now she was all his.

“Okay, honey lump, I need you to promise not to freak out.”

Calinou sighed, deliberately setting his knife down and wiping his hands off before shooting a quick look to the sky to ask for strength. “I’ll do my best, but no promises.” He turned just as she was coming through the kitchen door and his eyes narrowed. Without a word he met her near the table and carefully took her chin, tipping her head up to he could see her face. Her right eye was starting to swell shut and it was going to be a spectacular shiner by morning.

“And what, pray tell, happened?” He was proud of how even he kept his voice, considering.

“Well-” she winced as he pressed gentle fingers around the growing bruise, making sure nothing was broken. “There was this guy-” She looks up in surprise at the quiet growl coming from the man in front of her. “ _ No _ , no, sweety, let me finish. There was a guy with a cart, and one of the wheels got stuck. I was trying to help him, but the cart was piled kind of high, and the watermelons weren’t really secured very well, and when the cart jolted loose, so did some of the melons.”

Calinou blinked. “You got hit in the face with watermelons?”

Corrine scowled, then winced again as it pulled on her eye. “Only the one, though I suppose that was plenty. I dodged the rest of them.”

Calinou leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. “May I ask why you haven’t healed it already? I know you can.”

Corrine shrugged, looking sheepish. “It just feels like a waste, you know? Also, this is a  _ great  _ story.” She grinned, beaming up at him. “I mean come on, melons are inherently funny.”

“I suppose they are.” He steered her back toward a chair and sat her down, wetting a towel and folding it to place over her eye. “How about you just sit here while I finish the potatoes for dinner, huh? Try not to fight any more melons.”

There was a quietly muttered, “I’ll fight  _ your  _ melons…” from behind him and he snorted as he turned back to the cutting board.


	6. Inspirational Fugue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Calinou comes home from the forge to find Corrine mid-composition.

“Corrine?”

There’s no answering call from inside, and Calinou shuts the door behind him, taking off his coat and scarf and hanging them on a nearby hook. Corrine’s cloak and hat are there, so she’s likely here somewhere. He pauses to listen, and there’s the faint noise of banjo from the main room.

Ah. That explains it.

He heads further into the house, and there she is, sitting cross-legged in front of the fire on a cushion, banjo held loosely on her lap with one hand, the other with a pencil scribbling notes on a piece of paper that’s on the floor next to her. She’s utterly absorbed, and he can hear her singing quietly under her breath as she writes. She hasn’t noticed he’s there, and she plucks a few more notes from the banjo, pencil in her teeth, before reaching over to scribble something else. He smiles fondly and turns, heading the other way to the kitchen. It had been a surprise the first time he’d seen her like this, but it’s become more common now that she spends most of the time she isn’t touring here in Eastford. When the inspiration strikes her, there’s not much that can pull her out of it. He’s learned it’s usually best to leave her be until she’s done; she gets grumpy if she’s interrupted. He grabs an apple to hold him until dinner, then walks quietly back to the common room. He grabs the book he’s in the middle of, a collection of adventure stories, and settles onto a chair to read.

“Cal?”

He glances up. It’s been close to an hour since he got home, and this is the first time she’s acknowledged he’s in the room. Corrine is blinking owlishly at him, like she’s coming out of a fugue, and for all he knows she is. He marks his place in his book and sets it aside, smiling at her. “Yes, starling?”

She looks around, confused, then back at him. “When did you get home?”

“Not long ago. You were occupied.”

She runs a hand through her hair. “Oh...sorry?”

Calinou’s smile widens. “No need to apologize, love. I know the music needs to get out.”

And the thing is, he  _ does  _ understand. He’s the same way sometimes when an idea for a piece takes him. The metal will call to him, whispering what it wants to be, and he’s helpless to say no until it’s finished.

Corrine sets the banjo aside and gets up, wobbling a bit before moving closer and settling on his lap, leaning against his chest. He gathers her in his arms, holding her close and leaning down to kiss her. “Did you have lunch?”

She pulls back and looks like she’s giving it serious consideration, a line appearing between her eyebrows as she thinks. “Um…”

He snorts. “Did you have  _ breakfast _ ?”

“Uh- possibly not?”

He full-on laughs this time and stands up, making sure she’s in his arms securely. She squeaks at the sudden change in height and grabs at him before settling again. She knows he won’t drop her.

“Come on then. I’m taking you to Ironheart. I want a proper drink, and Balen’ll feed you up. I swear, Corrine, you need a keeper.”

She smiles up at him, and it warms him all the way down to his toes. “Well that’s why I have you.”

He squeezes her carefully as he carries her toward the front door to get their things and head out into the evening.


	7. Pinea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corrine's cat, Pinea, before and after the Mourning

Corrine is still mostly asleep when she hears the front door open and close from across the house. She’ll never understand morning people, and when Calinou had risen earlier, she’d blindly patted his arm and gone right back to sleep. At the moment, she’s currently bundled in a pleasantly warm nest of blankets and pillows, and sees no reason why she should get up.

“Corrine?”

She pointedly ignores the call and burrows further under the blankets, pulling them up until she’s fairly cocooned. There’s the sound of footsteps in the room, and a second later the mattress dips next to her, quickly followed by a deep rumble of laughter.

“Starling, are you in there?”

“ _ No _ .”

Another rumble of laughter, then, “But I have someone who’d really like to meet you.” 

That gives Corrine pause, and she wiggles up enough to poke her head out from under the covers. “What?”

Calinou pulls one of his hands out from behind him and sets something very small and very fuzzy on the bed next to Corrine’s head; it makes a tiny ‘meep’ noise and licks her nose.

Corrine’s eyes go wide as saucers and she’s suddenly  _ much  _ more awake, scrambling to disentangle herself from the blankets.

“Oh my  _ gods _ , Cal, you...you-” She carefully scoops up the ball of fluff which keeps mewling and batting at her fingers and her hair and whatever else is in reach. “It’s a  _ kitten _ !”

She can hear the smile in his voice when he answers. “Well, yes, I thought that much was fairly obvious.”

“It’s- oh my god, it’s so small,  _ how is it so small _ , where did you even  _ get  _ it?” She pulls it in to cuddle against her chest, and it curls up into a small puff of fuzz, its eyes sliding closed and purring happily, seemingly disinclined to move.

She’s so overcome she doesn’t know what to say, words deserting her almost entirely.

“Do you like her?”

“I mean, yes, of  _ course _ , how could I not, it’s a  _ kitten _ , but- but Cal, she’s so  _ small _ , how am I- I  _ travel _ , how am I going to keep a cat?”

“Well,” Calinou reaches out a massive finger and gently runs it over the kitten’s tiny head before sitting back against the headboard and pulling Corrine close to lean against him. “I imagine it can be trained to go with you. And she won’t always be that small, Corrine, she’s just a kitten. She’ll get bigger.”

“I know, but- just-” Corrine tapers off into stunned silence again, then, “Oh my god, I have a cat. You got me a  _ cat _ .”

He’s grinning now, looking very pleased with himself, and she’d be irritated about it except for the part where he  _ brought her a cat _ . “Yes I did.”

“I want to be annoyed at how smug you look, but I don’t think I’m able at the moment; make a note I’ll be annoyed later.”

He laughs, and kisses the top of her head. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

***

It’s like waking from a dream, but not.

Corrine blinks, and when she opens her eyes, she doesn’t know where she is, or what’s woken her. She’s standing, which she guesses is good, and she can see other people around her, also coming slowly to awareness, which is- well it’s a bit weirder. She’s at the front of the group, and there’s a walled city in front of her, and she’s  _ so _ confused, barely able to form a coherent thought, and is just shy of panic when there’s a movement on her shoulders, an independent shift of weight in what she’d thought was her travel pack, and then there’s the sensation of wet roughness against her cheek. She startles, reaching up to whatever it is, and when her hand encounters fur she thinks, ‘oh, it’s just Pin’. She turns her head to the side and comes nose-to-nose with her cat, who’s perched on her shoulders like a scarf, and has started to gently lick and headbutt at Corrine’s face.

“Yes, Pin, I’m here, thank you.” She reaches up and absently scritches Pin between the ears, eliciting a happy ‘mrrp’, and the cat lays back down across her shoulders.

Over the next few days, Corrine learns part of what’s happened.

There was a cataclysmic event in Cyre, which people are starting to refer to as The Mourning. Nobody knows what caused it. Nobody knows why it happened, or who’s responsible. All they really know right now is that if you were in Cyre when it happened, if you’re not somewhere else now, you probably didn’t survive it. Nobody knows how they got out, but for some reason, they think Corrine had something to do with it. She honestly has no idea _how_ they got out, doesn’t remember anything much from a few days after Oak Hill until waking up outside of Flamekeep, but nothing she says will deter them, or convince them otherwise. She’s starting telling them it wasn’t her, it was Pin, because that’s about as likely as her having had anything to do with getting this group of refugees out, but nobody listens, happily ignoring her every time she protests.

The first days in what will become Fireside are difficult. There’s a lot of disorganization, a lot of confusion, and the initial negotiations are made difficult by how high tensions are, how stressed everyone is, not knowing if the Mourning will spread, if the tragedy will follow it’s people across the water to Thrane. Eventually they come to an agreement, and things settle down. Corrine keeps busy, helping where she can, helping to organize and give pep talks where necessary, using the bits of magic she can still easily use. Her voice is slowly coming back, though it’s quickly obvious it will never be what it once was; even with her throat healed her voice is rough, and cracks more often than not. Of all the losses she’s sustained in the last few weeks, this is the one that almost does her in. She’s always identified herself largely by what she could do, and so much of that was involved with her ability to perform, to sing, that now that she can’t, she isn’t entirely sure who she is anymore. But every time she starts to spiral, starts to drop into somewhere dark, Pin is there. She doesn’t know how the cat knows, wonders if Pin is part fae, but somehow she does. She’ll be interrupted in her thoughts by a quiet ‘mreow’, and then the warm fuzzy weight of her cat on her shoulders or on her lap, purring and nuzzling and headbutting until Corrine is forced out of her thoughts and into the present again. She starts to see Pin around camp, helping others the same way, and she can’t help but think Calinou would have been happy to know that the little cat he’d gotten her those years ago was helping so many other people as well; she also can’t help but be thankful to have at least a little bit of him she can still hold onto, even if it’s not actually him.

**Author's Note:**

> “ _Cén fáth nach bhfuil an fuck_?”- "Why the fuck not?" (though if any of you speak Irish, please feel free to correct me. Google Translate can only do so much)  
>  _joon-am_ \- my sweet/my love/my darling


End file.
